1 Topic by adrian (edited by adrian 2014-08-12 15:42:28)

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Topic: PolyMakr Polymax PLA (PLA+special sauce..)

I grabbed some of the PolyMakr PolyMax PLA from https://www.3dprintergear.com.au/polyma … 15lbs.html to give it a try.

Its PLA with additives to give it some improved mechanical properties; notably improved strength over that of even ABS and a graceful failure-mode of bending rather than fracturing like standard PLA.

The rolls are shipped in a nice re-sealable ziploc vacuum bag and include a 'heart shaped' filament clip to help with storage. A datasheet also accompanies the roll.

Tolerance wise it seems right on spec - it claims a +/- 0.05 but the roll I have would appear to be 1.75 +/- 0.01 over the 10m I measured.

The filament otherwise looks and behaves mostly like PLA - it supports a print temp between 180-200 if using a 60-70°C heated bed; or 200-230 if using a cold bed and smells like PLA. Speaking of the bed; I just used my usual PEI sheet and it stuck like a charm.

One thing that didn't behave like normal PLA was that it did overhangs amazingly well - in the print below you'll see there is no fan involved yet it did the obligatory Yoda no problems.

The prints it produces feel stronger than ABS, and it does indeed fail more like ABS than traditional PLA.

Heres some pics of it printing Yoda; 0.2mm; 0.4mm Nozzle; 65°C PEI Bed; 195°C Hexagon hotend; about ~90mm/s:

Here you can see the quality of the overhangs; even without a fan:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IB_wqN7qzGY/U-omYbNYVwI/AAAAAAAAL7s/cLppE3ad7uA/w1429-h804-no/20140813_003513.jpg

Almost done:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-JpR9BQLTwmc/U-oxJBhSYsI/AAAAAAAAL8Q/Cj4xzsbVRno/w1429-h804-no/20140813_012144.jpg

Done:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WMcuPyDgvsA/U-ox3XbvodI/AAAAAAAAL8c/qVKyjTJL4_Q/w1429-h804-no/20140813_012454.jpg

So far I'm quite pleased with it and quite impressed with the quality - especially for being PLA and printing without a fan. Its unashamedly Chinese though so it might turn some others off but I have no issues with its quality.

2 Reply by wardjr

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Re: PolyMakr Polymax PLA (PLA+special sauce..)

I find myself wondering just how many of those damn Yoda heads have been printed?  I also use the "obligatory Yoda" to test new filaments smile
Nice work and thanks for the update, even if the product comes form China wink
How did you say that went?  USA... something... something big_smile

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3 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: PolyMakr Polymax PLA (PLA+special sauce..)

How does it cut?  A lot times my prints need a little trimming with an exacto, maybe some spiderwebs scraped out.  ABS cuts nicely, but PLA is hard and brittle and more difficult to carve.

4 Reply by AZERATE

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Re: PolyMakr Polymax PLA (PLA+special sauce..)

That is remarkable quality for not having a fan!

Chinese, Iraqi, American....if it's good, it's good. smile

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5 Reply by adrian (edited by adrian 2014-08-12 16:54:04)

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Re: PolyMakr Polymax PLA (PLA+special sauce..)

IanJohnson - will do a proper test for you tomorrow; but the double-loops that ended up as yoda's beard came off with my xacto pretty easily but they were hardly a test. I'll print an open rectangle with some complicated bridging to test properly..

Azerate - yes I'm quite impressed with its performance for an otherwise PLA product. I printed purely a few calibration cubes to dial in the flow rates and then Yoda; so it is fairly no fuss to get great results.

wardjr - heh; I believe it goes something like that wink

I really did like the addition of a fairly full featured datasheet with the product. Combined with the factory supplied resealable vac bag and filament clip its extremely well presented. I mentioned its unashamedly Chinese because it puts the factory name and details right there on the datasheet.

The wife has taken all my lenses on a photo trip; so I'll grab some better pictures of some other models another time.

6 Reply by 3Dprintergear

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Re: PolyMakr Polymax PLA (PLA+special sauce..)

Thanks for the great review Adrian. Your findings mirror mine on a Creator Pro with no fan.

For the Aussies looking for some of this, sorry it is now out of stock, thanks to a customer who contacted me yesterday and said he wants every roll I have! yikes More coming in a few weeks.

On the made in China thing. I think over the last year or so some of the Chinese manufacturers haver really improved their quality, and while not perfect I am seeing far fewer issues than I used to. I have also had some issues with the Dutch made ColorFabb PLA, which is considered of high quality, and is certainly priced that way too.
The PolyMakr filaments though do appear to be a step above most, and their packaging and attention to detail is the best I've seen from anyone. Now we just need some more colours!